GAZA -- U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher backed Yasser Arafat's call for early Palestinian elections on Wednesday and played down any suggestion that Israel sought to change its accord with the PLO.


Palestinians have accused Israel of delaying the next step outlined in their 15-month-old peace deal: the redeployment of Israeli troops away from Palestinian towns in the West Bank prior to the elections.


"We recognize the importance of holding elections at an early date," Christopher told a joint news conference with Arafat after an hour-long meeting at the PLO chairman's self-rule headquarters in the Gaza Strip.


Christopher, who met Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Jerusalem earlier in the day, reassured Arafat the Israeli leader was not planning any changes in their Declaration of Principles signed in Washington in September 1993.


"When I was with Prime Minister Rabin, he said they intend to carry out the Declaration of Principles. As far as I am concerned, there is not an issue about modification," Christopher told the reporters in Gaza.


A short time later, aides to Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said the two men would meet Thursday to discuss removing obstacles to expanding Palestinian self-rule.


An aide to Arafat said the meeting would take place in Gaza. Palestine Liberation Organization officials said the meeting was at Peres' request.


"We are looking for an urgent election," Arafat said.


Also on Thursday, Israel's cabinet will resume a debate over the future of its peace deal, and Environment Minister Yossi Sarid, a senior negotiator in talks with the PLO, promised an important announcement.


"We'll announce our decisions, our proposals, our attitudes toward the continuation and implementation of the agreement with the Palestinians," Sarid told reporters in Jerusalem.


Christopher said Tuesday that Israel could not be expected to withdraw its troops from Arab towns in the West Bank, as required under their accord, unless the PLO ensured security in areas it controlled.


After meeting Arafat on Wednesday, Christopher said: "He understands the responsibilities and commitments that he has undertaken ... and intends to carry out those responsibilities against terror and violence."


Last week Rabin hinted Israel would think twice about a withdrawal in light of the scores of Israelis that have been killed this year by Palestinian guerrillas from Moslem groups opposed to the Israeli-PLO deal.


PLO officials said Arafat made clear to Christopher his policy was to contain Islamic opposition rather than crack down on it. They said Christopher and his team understood the importance of this approach.


The Israeli army pullout is due to precede Palestinian elections, already delayed by months, and PLO leaders say they will refuse to vote under the barrels of Israeli guns. They also oppose any unilateral Israeli change in the peace accord.


Israel has already given the PLO control of five spheres of authority in the West Bank and self-rule in Gaza and Jericho.


In Jerusalem earlier, Rabin said Christopher's mission to Syria on Tuesday failed to narrow the gap over peace with Israel. But Rabin said both Israel and Syria would aim to stop making "bombastic" statements about each other.


He called again for secret, direct talks on ending their 46 years of conflict. U.S.-brokered talks between Israel and Syria are stuck over the scope of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights and the terms of peace.